The posse of aides surrounding Joe Biden appears to be growing, a month after it was reported they are now joining him on the march from the White House to the presidential helicopter.
A video of the president making his way to the chopper went viral after it showed around 10 people joining him as part of his the entourage, including White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre.
The aides think that having themselves walk between Biden and journalists’ cameras will draw less attention to Biden’s halting and stiff walk, Axios reported in April.
The president was headed to Philadelphia for a campaign event to launch ‘Black Voters for Biden-Harris,’ as recent polling showed the Democratic ticket sagging with that group compared to four years ago.
It was just days after Biden was seen slowly shuffling out of a clothing store in his native Delaware.
At 81 and as the oldest president in American history, Biden was seen slowly shuffling out of a Jos. A. Bank in Greenville holding a bag and accompanied by multiple Secret Service agents on Memorial Day Weekend.
The president flipped on his famous aviator sunglasses before getting back into his vehicle.
Greenville is a short drive away from Wilmington, where the Biden family compound is located.
Biden is notorious for preferring his weekends in his home state to Washington or Camp David during his presidency.
Voters have expressed concern about Biden’s age as he seeks a second term. An NBC poll in April found that the idea that Biden ‘may not have the necessary mental and physical health to be president for a second term’ was a top concern for voters.
It was Biden who suggested aides walk with him as the president seeks to counter the concerns.
‘Weeks ago, the President mentioned to aides that he’d prefer a less formal approach and said they should just walk with him,’ a White House aide told DailyMail.com
Since mid-April, he’s had deputy chiefs of staff Annie Tomasini and Bruce Reed, top adviser Mike Donilon and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at his side as heads to Marine One.
In March, Biden’s five walks to and from Marine One at the White House were by himself, or with family members. Starting April 16, Biden was joined by staff or lawmakers nine out of 10 times he walked to and from Marine One, per Axios’ count.
The White House has tried to turn questions about Biden’s age into an argument that he is the most experienced person to hold the office.
But as voters continue to fret in a way about Biden that they don’t about Trump, who is 77, there’s been a subtle shift in strategy. If Biden wins a second term, he would be 86 at its completion.
Biden is now making jokes repeatedly about his age.
At an event in New York on Thursday, when talking about the size of microchips being made at the factory he was visiting, Biden quipped: ‘It’s 4,000 times thinner than a single hair on your head and I got some very thin hair on my head.’
He also likes to tell crowds that he knows ‘he looks 40.’
The president has also taken to wearing sneakers or hiking boots. He’s been spotted lately sporting the Hoka ‘Transport’ sneakers, which typically retail for $150.
He’s also been using the shorter stair case on Air Force One, which has fewer steps, and doing balancing exercises.
The president, 81, has taken several stumbles in his nearly three years in office – falling while boarding Air Force One, tripping on various staircases, and taking a dramatic tumble at the Air Force Academy when he encountered a sandbag.
That smaller staircase – which goes into the belly of the 747 – is about half the size of the stair case that is used to access the upper part of the plane: 14 stairs versus 26.
Biden’s doctor has admitted the president has a stiff gait.
In both reports on Biden’s physicals, the president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, noted the president has suffered from a ‘stiffened ambulatory gait.’ Biden fractured his foot during the 2020 presidential campaign and had to wear a boot.
Otherwise, Biden has been declared fit to hold office.
O’Connor recommended physical therapy – specifically ‘proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers’ – and shoe orthotics to help with his walking.
Proprioception training focuses on the sense of body positioning in space and can involve balancing exercises, tai chi, and yoga.
Biden, who works out most mornings at the White House gym, has been doing balancing exercises with Drew Contreras, who was a physical therapist in the Army and worked with Barack Obama when he was in the White House.